No one from the Great Falls Central Catholic football team that won the 1962 Class A state football championship had any inkling that it would be the last title for the Mustangs until this past Saturday when the GFCC boys' tennis team won the B-C crown.

The feedback from Saturday's title has been nothing short of fantastic, according to head tennis coach Jason Purpura, especially when you look back at what has transpired with the school over the last 5.6 decades. The school, which was formed in 1951 after the merger between St. Mary's High School, the Ursuline Academy and the St. Thomas Home boarding school, became a Class AA school the year after winning their only state football title.

Purpura said the excitement about the tennis title has thrilled not just the school, community and the players, but also several GFCC alumni, including some who played on that 1962 team that beat defending state champion Havre 34-6 at Memorial Stadium for the hardware.

"It's pretty cool. I received a call from a couple of alumni who attended the original Central High," Purpura said. "It gave them a chance to relive some great memories."

Dave Parchen of Monarch, retired after 40 years of teaching and coaching at Fort Benton, remembers when the school was shut down in 1973.

"I was out of college by then," Parchen recalled, "and they shut the school down with a substantial number of kids still attending."

Great Falls had three Class AA schools then: Great Falls Central, Great Falls High and an upstart school former in 1965 named C.M Russell High School.

Parchen said when Central closed their doors for what seemingly was the last time, "that's when CMR became a good football team, and the Rustlers and Bison were the Class AA powerhouses for the next 20 years."

Parchen played on the freshman and sophomore teams at Central back then: "When you weigh 100 pounds soaking wet and there's 70 guys out for the varsity football team, you really don't have much of a chance.

"So I wrestled," Parchen said, adding that his assistant coach in those days – he was a student from 1962-1966 – was none other than Bob Zadick ... but that's another time, another story.

Wally Berry was a Class A first team All-Stater at running back and middle linebacker for those '62 Mustangs, his senior year.

"We thought we had a state championship team in 1960," Berry said. Glendive beat Miles City for the Class A title that year, and Havre won it in 1961 when the Mustangs had "a so-so year," in Berry's words.

Then next year came with a fine offensive backfield, but an offensive and defensive line that was both inexperienced and undersized.

That line consisted of Jerry and Dick Kuntz, Bill Sprinkle and the late Bob Murray. Enter line coach John McMahon, brought in by Mustangs' head coach Bill Mehrens to toughen up the Mustangs' front lines.

That's what makes this championship more special. The second incarnation of Great Falls Central stared in 2001 with classes at McLaughlin Center on the campus of what is now the University of Providence. They moved into their current campus on 18th Avenue South – south of Benefis Health System – in 2008.

"We coaches can recognize and acknowledge kids' accomplishments every day," Purpura added, "but this championship is something the rest of the local sports community can acknowledge."

Lee Vernoy's column about the places and faces of Montana sports appears in this slot most Mondays. Contact him at (406) 791-6569, or email: lvernoy@greatfallstribune.com.